1. HEALTHY EATING STRATEGIES FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Nutritional Health Tips
Weight loss occurs when the body expends more
calories than in takes in. Unfortunately, our bodies
are not optimized to lose weight, which is why most
popular diets ultimately fail. Our body fat (and our
weight) is designed to regulate it-self. When caloric
intake is drastically reduced (i.e. dieting), your body
senses starvation and will produce hormonal signals that
cause your metabolism to slow down while at the same
time increasing your appetite – your body’s attempt to
protect your fat stores and preserve your life. A similar
occurrence happens when we gain a little weight, our
body speeds up metabolism and suppresses appetite in
an effort to lose the weight and keep us from getting
too heavy.
In today’s society with abundant food choices it is much
easier to override the ‘weight gain’ signal than it is the
‘weight loss’ signal. Correct weight management is
possible for each and every one of us, all it takes is a little
knowledge and a willingness to adapt a lifestyle change.
Metabolism Primer
Think of metabolism as the number of calories your
body requires to fuel all its functions throughout the day.
Metabolism can be broken down into three components:
· Resting (60-80% of total)
· energy required to sustain vital processes
like breathing, keeping your heart beating, repairing
muscle tissue, etc
· Digestion (5-10% of total)
· energy required to break down the foods we eat
· Physical activity (10-30% of total)
· calories we require to produce movement over and
above resting levels
The key to producing successful weight loss is to
incorporate lifestyle changes that will increase all three
levels of metabolism. For example, muscle burns more
calories than fat so building an extra 5 lbs of muscle
through resistance training might mean your body burns
an additional 75-100 calories per day. Now 100 calories
does not seem like much, heck it’s only the number
of calories in a banana, but given that a pound of fat
contains 3,500 calories, over the period of one month,
that extra muscle could help prevent your body from
accumulating up to one pound of excess fat! The best
part of increasing muscle is that you’ll benefit while at
rest so consider weight training as the #1 secret for
increasing your resting metabolism. A second benefit
to resistance training is that although minute for minute
it doesn’t burn as many calories as doing cardio, the
process of tearing muscle and rebuilding them can
elevate metabolism for up to 48 hours! One hour of work
for 48 hours of benefit… where do I sign up?!
The Athletic Club Healthy Eating for Weight Loss Page 1

2. For other metabolism boosting tips, read on…
The Most Important Meal of the Day
is Breakfast!
Breakfast is considered an important meal because it
breaks the overnight fasting period, replenishes your
supply of glucose and provides other essential nutrients
to keep your energy levels up throughout the day.
In the morning, after you have gone without food for as
long as 12 hours, your glucose levels have dropped.
Glucose is an important energy source for your body. It
is broken down and absorbed from the carbohydrates
you eat. Although many of your tissues can operate
burning mostly fat, glucose is of vital importance for your
brain. In fact, it is the most important fuel for your brain.
Without adequate glucose, memory and concentration
both suffer tremendously. Not only that, but breakfast
provides a significant proportion of the day’s total nutrient
intake and offers the opportunity to eat foods fortified
with nutrients such as foliate, iron, B vitamins and fibre.
Essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can
only be gained from food. So think of a nice balanced
breakfast containing healthy carbohydrates such as
fruits, vegetables and whole grains as your key to mental
success.
Another reason to eat breakfast is to boost your energy
levels as well as your metabolism for the entire day.
When we have not eaten for several hours, our bodies
start to use stored protein as fuel. In other words, go too
long between meals and you’ll start to eat into your hard
earned muscle stores – a huge no-no if we want to keep
our metabolism high! Therefore, to get your muscles out
of ‘burn’ and back into ‘build’ mode make sure to include
some protein with breakfast as well.
Just how important is breakfast really? Well studies
have shown that people who do not consume a regular
breakfast have 4.5x the odds of becoming obese!!
Eat a Healthy Choice of Foods Every
2-3 Hours! 5-6 Small Meals a Day
Just as breakfast is required to ensure we have the
glucose, essential fatty acids, vitamin and minerals and
amino acids necessary to maintain an anabolic state
(definition of anabolic state: Favorable state in the body
created by a combination of good training, nutrition
and rest that leads to increased lean muscle mass
and fat loss), so too is ensuring we get these nutrients
throughout the day. Therefore, aim to eat every 2-3 hours
but don’t overstuff yourself! Keeping each meal relatively
small enhances nutrient absorption while helping you
reduce body fat.
“Eating smaller, more frequent meals creates an
environment inside the body in which blood sugar levels
don’t elevate and drop as drastically as when you eat
fewer larger meals. Elevated blood sugar levels cause the
body to increase insulin production in an attempt to store
that sugar for later. When insulin is present, fat-burning
is stopped. Lowered insulin levels and steady blood
amino acid levels (a product of eating relatively small,
frequent meals throughout the day) help fight against this
situation.”
The Athletic Club Healthy Eating for Weight Loss Page 2

3. To make sure we keep our insulin levels under control,
try implementing the following strategies:
Eat Protein With Every Meal
Eating protein at every feeding has several benefits.
Protein is the energy source that requires the most energy
to digest, on top of being the least likely to be stored
as fat. As well, providing protein (and the amino acids
building blocks it is made from) is critical for ‘anabolism’.
Take home message, you can’t repair muscle or build
new muscle without protein. So instead of ingesting
only 1 or 2 huge protein servings in a day (the way most
people do), spread out your intake with each meal to
ensure your body has the building blocks it needs 24/7.
Note: If you’re a vegetarian, this rule still applies – you
need complete protein and need to find non-animal
sources.
Add Vegetables Every Time You Eat
That’s right, in addition to having a complete, lean protein
source every time you eat, you need to include some
vegetables as well. Fruit is a valuable addition to most
meals, just don’t skip the veggies. Vegetables contain
many valuable antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that
keep your immune system functioning at optimal levels.
As an added bonus, vegetables are the highest natural
sources of fibre (8x the fibre of whole grains calorie for
calorie), which is not only critical for health but also helps
you maintain consistent blood sugar – preventing excess
fat storage and energy crashes.
As a simple guide divide your plate into 4 quadrants for each
meal. ½ of the plate should contain a vegetable source,
¼ should be a lean protein source and ¼ could be some
sort of fruit or ‘dry’ carbohydrate (depending on the time of
day). It’s a rough guide, but it works pretty well. Do this and
you’ll be well on your way to eating the recommended 5-10
servings of vegetables and fruit per day.
Control ‘Dry’ Carbohydrate Portions
First and foremost, carbohydrates are not ‘evil’. Our
bodies need carbohydrates to fuel our brains and muscles
when working out intensely. We need to control portion
size when it comes to ‘dry’ carbohydrates (carbohydrate
with low water content: i.e. breads, pastas, rice, cereals)
relative to ‘wet’ carbohydrates (carbohydrate with high
water content: i.e. vegetables and fruit). You also need
to adjust your carbohydrate intake according to your
activity level. To effectively manage your weight reserve
you need ‘dry carbohydrate’ intake for breakfast and
immediately after a workout, when your insulin sensitivity
is at its peak. The rest of your day, get most of your
carbohydrates from a wide variety of delicious vegetables
and fruit.
When choosing ‘dry’ carbohydrates, opt for ‘whole grain’
and higher fibre options, as fibre helps prevents blood
sugar and wild insulin swings.
Smart Carb choices:
· Whole grain, high fibre cereals, whole wheat breads
and pastas, brown rice, barley, bulgur, and wheat
berries.
· Fruits, vegetables and 100% pure fruit juices
· Low fat milk, dairy products
· Beans, split peas and lentils
80% of your foods should come from whole, minimally
processed natural foods.
The more processing a food under goes, the greater
loss of vital nutrients (think whole grain vs. white bread)
and the greater detriment to your health. As a grocery
shopping guide stick to the outside aisles (i.e. fresh
produce and lean meats) with minimal purchases from
the processed foods found in the middle aisles.
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4. Fats Are Our Friends
We all need fat in our diet to help us absorb fat soluble
vitamins (A,D,E & K), and plant carotenoids. The secret is
knowing, how much you are consuming and what type of
fat it is you are consuming.
· A healthy fat intake for adults is 20-35% of total
calories
· Women need about 40-60 grams of fat per day
· Men need about 60-90 grams of fat per day
Eating all three kinds of fat in a healthy balance can
dramatically improve your health, and even help you lose fat.
Unhealthy Fats
Saturated Fat
Your saturated fat (unhealthier fats) should come
from your animal products and you can even toss in
some butter or coconut oil for cooking. Other sources
of saturated fat are from fatty meats, full fat milk
products, lard, fast foods and prepared foods made with
hydrogenated oils. Saturate are to be eaten less often.
Trans Fat
The one kind of fat you should avoid at all costs is trans
fat. Found in many snack foods, processed foods,
commercially prepared fried foods and some margarines,
these man-made fats are produced by heating liquid
vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen (a process
known as hydrogenation).
Healthy Fats
Monosaturated Fat
Your monounsaturated fat should come from mixed nuts
and seeds, avocadoes, olives, and olive, canola and
peanut oils.
Polyunsaturated Fat
Polyunsaturated fat should from flaxseed oil, safflower oil,
sunflower oil, corn oils, canola oil, soybean oils and fish
oil, omega 3 eggs and mixed nuts.
· Mistake 1: We cut the good fats
When people think ‘low-fat’ the first to go tend to be
unsaturated oils used for frying foods and in salad
dressings, so our blood vessels miss out on their
beneficial effects.
Foods like avocados and nuts are also important
sources of other nutrients, along with the good fats, so
avoiding them can leave us deficient in substances our
bodies actually need.
There’s even evidence that cooking vegetables in
oil enhances the absorption of lycopene, the red
pigment in tomatoes that helps fight cancer and heart
disease. So don’t shy away from using healthy oils in
moderation.
· Mistake 2: We cut the wrong bad fats
Even when people understand the need to cut
saturated fats, they tend to steer clear of meat and
dairy products. Although these foods contain saturated
fats, they’re also good sources of protein and vitamins,
so it’s better to eat reduced-fat varieties rather than
cutting them out altogether. That means opting for low-fat
rather than full-fat milk, skinless chicken, and lean
cuts of meat rather than meat marbled with white fat or
with a thick strip of fat down the side.
· Mistake 3: We overlook ‘hidden’ fats
The fats we should limit most are the saturated fats
hidden in processed foods like pastries, snack bars,
and crumbed and coated foods as these often contain
few other useful nutrients.
· Mistake 4: We’re seduced by ‘low-fat’ labels
Food marketed as ‘low-fat’ can be an important part
of a healthy diet but over-relying on such claims can
be dangerous. Having cut the fat, many manufacturers
make up for the loss of taste.
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5. Avoid Calorie Containing Drinks
(including Fruit Juice) and Sauces
In fact, all of your drinks should come from non-calorie
containing beverages. Fruit juice, alcoholic drinks, and
sodas – these are all to be removed from your daily fare.
Regular soda pop is high in calories (~150 calories per
12 oz can). In fact a can of soda contains 10 teaspoons
of sugar, which is 100% of the daily recommended value
for adults. Diet soda is a better choice, but that does not
make it a ‘healthy’ choice. Yes it is true that the calories
in regular soda pop are empty of any nutritional value,
many colas (regular and diet) may be high in caffeine
(a diuretic), which can lead to dehydration as well as
contribute to depleting your body of vital minerals. As
always, you best bet for fluid is water, with green or
herbal teas also great choices as they contain many
valuable nutrients with virtually no calories.
The same empty calories are often found in sauces and
condiments. Instead of using ketchup, mayonnaise or
dressings opt instead for herbs and spices, which contain
virtually no calories as well as contain a whole of disease
fighting nutrients!
Compare Labels Before You Buy
The other problem with ‘low-fat’ processed foods, is that
we tend to eat more of them. Who hasn’t gone for an
extra scoop of ice-cream, thinking it’s ‘low-fat’ so it must
be OK?
If a food doesn’t provide many important nutrients
anyway, low-fat claims can lull us into a false sense of
security suggesting ‘fat is all that matters’. So we believe
we’re merely having a guilt-free indulgence when we
eat half a pack of ‘no-fat’ jelly beans when we could be
getting a host of valuable nutrients in, say, a chicken
sandwich.
Now normally you should focus on meeting your nutrient
requirements from whole foods (remember the 80% rule),
however almost everyone could benefit from omega-3
fat supplementation. The omega-3 and omega-6 fats are
both ‘essential’ fats, meaning we have to eat them since
our bodies cannot make them. While the average North
American eats a ton of omega-6 fat on a daily basis (too
much in fact), most of us consume virtually no omega-
3s. These oils (found in abundance in some types of
fish) were once more prevalent in our diets but over time
we’ve stopped eating foods high in omega-3 and now
our omega-6 to omega 3 ratio is way out of whack. In
order to address this issue and improve our health, one
of the simplest things we can do it take 1-3 grams of
omega-3 fats per day. As an added bonus, even higher
consumption of omega 3 fats (6-10 grams/day) has been
shown to help decrease abdominal fat. Imagine that,
eating more fat to lose your gut!
The Athletic Club Healthy Eating for Weight Loss Page 5

6. Drink Lots of Water!
Not only is water calorie free, but water helps fill you up
while ensuring our metabolic processes are operating at
full capacity.
· How Much Water Do You Really Need To Drink?
According to the Institute of Medicine’s Food and
Nutrition Board in their recent sixth report concerning
water intake and electrolyte nutrients:
The vast majority of healthy people adequately meet
their daily hydration and fluid intake needs by letting
thirst be their guide. As a general guide, the Food
and Nutrition Board set general recommendations
for women at approximately 2.7 liters of total water
- from all beverages and foods - each day, and men an
average of approximately 3.7 liters of total water.
About 80 percent of people’s total water intake
comes from drinking water and beverages - including
caffeinated beverages - and the other 20 percent is
derived from food.
Consume Healthy Portions
When it comes to healthy eating, how much you eat is
just as important as what you eat. You have to know the
difference between ‘serving’ and ‘portion’ size. A serving
is a standardized way of measuring food (half a cup of
rice or one ounce of cheese). Serving sizes are based on
energy and nutrient requirements and are used in dietary
guidelines, such as Canada’s Food Guide.
A portion is the actual amount of food that is being
served for a snack or meal. For example, Canada’s Food
Guide advises that Canadian adults need between six and
eight servings of grain products every day.
According to the Food Guide, one serving of rice equals
half a cup. Therefore, if you eat 1 cup of rice —which
isn’t an uncommon amount to see served as part of a
meal — that’s one portion, but it actually counts as two
servings toward your daily nutritional requirement.
Proper Portion
Canada’s Food Guide provides an extensive list of
appropriate serving sizes based on the different food
groups. You can use these examples to help you choose
an appropriate portion.
Look at the following serving sizes and try to use that as
a reference next time you sit down to eat.
Food group One serving looks like
Fruits and Vegetables 1 medium piece of fruit
(7 to 10 servings/day) 1/2 medium potato
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup vegetable juice
Grain Products 1/2 bagel
(6 to 8 servings/day) 1 slice of bread
1/2 muffin
1/2 cup cooked pasta
2 cups plain popcorn
1/2 cup rice
1/4 naan
Milk and Alternatives 1 cup milk (1%, 2% or soy)
(2 to 3 servings/day) 1 1/2 oz. cheese
3/4 cup yogurt
Meat and Alternatives 2 eggs
(2 to 3 servings/day) 1/4 cup nuts or seeds
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 1/2 oz. chicken, beef, pork
1/2 cup tuna or salmon
Using everyday items for comparison can also be a
handy method of figuring out what a serving actually
looks like. For instance:
1 cup = a baseball or roughly the size of a woman’s fist
1/2 cup = a small computer mouse
1/4 cup = medium egg
3 ounces of meat = a deck of cards or the area of the
inside of your palm
1 ounce of cheese = 4 dice
1 teaspoon (fat) = 1 die
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7. Keeping Portions in Check
At home:
· Use smaller plates — not only will you serve yourself
less; you’ll eat less, too.
· Divide up single portions before sitting down to eat.
· When eating packaged food, put an appropriate
portion in a bowl instead of eating directly out of the
bag or box.
· Avoid eating in front of the television — you’ll eat
more than you realize if you’re not paying attention to
the food going into your mouth.
· If you are having trouble “eyeballing” it, get out the
measuring cups until you have a better idea of what an
appropriate portion is.
· Read food labels, and make note of the serving size. A
package usually contains multiple servings.
Controlling portions when eating out:
· Order an appetizer and a salad as your main dish
— they tend to be smaller than entrees.
· Share your meal, or request part of your meal be
packaged to go before they even serve it to you — this
way you won’t be tempted to eat it all at one sitting.
· Ask for a doggie bag, and put aside enough to eat for
lunch the next day.
· Avoid the temptation to get more bang for your buck
— that means opting out of the biggie and super-sized
meals.
· Avoid the buffet and order from the menu (unless
you’re very disciplined and comfortable with
eyeballing proper portion sizes).
· Don’t feel obligated to clear your whole plate — stop
eating when you feel full.
Eat Lots of Fibre
We need 25-35 grams a day. Fibre comes from foods
of plant origin such as whole grains, vegetables, fruit,
legumes and nuts.
Soluble Fibre (dissolves in water), found in fruit,
legumes, barley and oats.
· It helps soak up LDL or “bad” cholesterol, which
helps with heart health
Insoluble Fibre (does not dissolve in water) found in
wheat bran, whole grains, vegetables and fruit with
editable skin and seeds
· Gets rid of waste and keeps us regular
· Helps with weight control. Fibre is low in fat,
nutrient-packed and filling.
Ways to increase Fibre
· 100% whole grain breads, cereals, crackers and
pasta.
· Lentils, beans and peas in soups, salad, sandwich
wraps and casseroles.
· Substitute and add whole wheat flour to recipes
(if you do not like the whole recipe whole wheat use
half and half).
· Fruits and vegetable with skin on.
The Athletic Club Healthy Eating for Weight Loss Page 7

8. Read Nutrition Labels
Use the nutrition facts table along with nutrient and health
claims to make informed choices. Since serving-size
information is standardized throughout the food industry,
it’s easy to compare brands too!
SERVING SIZE
Many people eat more than the recommended serving.
Check the amount to make sure you’re exercising portion
control.
CALORIES PER SERVING
Dependent on age and activity level; men need on average
1800-2400 calories per day and women need 1500-1800
per day.
GRAMS OF FAT PER SERVING
Go low more often. Remember, if you’re going to eat
double the amount of food, that’s double the amount of fat.
TYPE OF FAT
If you are choosing products that contain fat, make sure
you choose healthier fats like polyunsaturates (especially
Omega-6 and Omega-3 polyunsaturates) and mono-unsaturates
more often than saturated fats and trans fats.
SUGAR
Anything that ends in ‘ose’ (like sucrose, glucose or
lactose) is a sugar as well as molasses and corn syrup.
Look for approximately 8 g of sugar or less per serving.
FIBRE
You need 25-35 g a day so look for breads and cereals
that are high in fibre. When you first increase fibre, do
it slowly and remember to increase water intake to the
recommended 8 glasses a day and exercise as well.
SODIUM
Almost all foods contain sodium as it adds flavour and
helps preserve food. Many processed foods contain
greater amounts so take care to limit your daily intake to
the recommended 2300 mg a day.
ORDER OF INGREDIENTS
In Canada, ingredients are listed in descending order by
weight (highest to lowest). Be cautious of where fat and
sugar fall on the list!
% DAILY VALUE
Use this to determine if a food has a little, or a lot of a
particular nutrient.
Sources:
Canada’s Food Guide, Health Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation
For more information on Nutrition label reading: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/label-etiquet/inl-eni-eng.pdf
Eat Clean Diet, Tosca Reno, Robert Kennedy Publishing, 2007
Ten Tips for Staying Lean. Nutrition Action Health Letter, 1999, Leibman, B.
Modern Methods for Weight Control. The Physician and Sports Medicine, 1987, Brownell, K.D & Steen, S.N
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